Investigation
by Hunter Stag
Summary: Two years before the events of Mass Effect, a Citadel vessel is sent to the Terminus Systems to root out a group of terrorists. However, things are not as they seem and the terrorists are soon replaced by a greater threat. T for violence and language.
1. The Citadel

With a blue flash of light the frigate SSV _Waterloo_ appeared beside the mass relay. Quickly activating its engines and accelerating into the Serpent Nebula, the ship was in the final stretch of its journey to the Citadel.

In one of the vessel's hallways, a young Lieutenant stood, looking out of the viewports as the nebula rushed by. A scuff behind him made the human turn. The ship's captain stood there, looking at him. "Nervous, Lieutenant?"

The young man shook his head. Despite his age (twenty-four) and his five-year long career in the System Alliance navy, the man was slim of build and an average soldier. "No, sir. Not in the least."

The captain sighed and walked over, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Son, it's fine if you're nervous. Hell, if I was going on a mission with a ship full of nothing but turians, I'd be nervous. But who knows? You might learn something from them."

The lieutenant snorted. "With all due respect, sir, just because we're building a ship with them doesn't mean we all need to start treating them better."

"Maybe. But at least try to be civil."

The lieutenant sighed. "I will if they will."

The intercom suddenly buzzed. "Captain Roberts, we're approaching the station."

Roberts looked up and beckoned to the lieutenant. "Come on. You'll want to see this."

As both men came to the front of the bridge, the communications officer transferred a video message to the holoscreen. On it, a turian's face watched them intently. "Systems Alliance vessel SSV _Waterloo_, you are entering Citadel space. State your business and prepare your crew roster for customs clearance."

Roberts nodded at the communications officer to transfer the ship's roster to the C-Sec office and then spoke to the turian as he watched the names of all of the crew go by under him. "We were told that the Council wished to have a human liaison with the turians on a mission into the Terminus Systems. We are here to deliver him."

The turian looked up, hit a few buttons, and began to read the dossier aloud as the lieutenant's picture appeared on the screen. "Lieutenant Jacob Daniels, joined the Systems Alliance armed forces in 2178, age twenty-four, hair color brown, eye color same, height six feet ten inches, weight eighty-one kilograms…everything checks out, as does the rest of your crew. Welcome to the Citadel."

Roberts nodded. "Thank you, Customs." He looked at the pilot as the screen winked out. "Take us in."

The _Waterloo_ banked and turned, finally exiting the nebula. Jacob inhaled in sheer awe at the sight before him.

The station was huge. Five massive, curving arms jutting outward from a central ring. In between the arms, and coming towards the station, were thousands of ships of all shapes and sizes. As the _Waterloo_ passed by a massive, cross-shaped ship, Roberts smiled and chuckled. "Told you it was worth seeing, didn't I?"

Jacob nodded.

The _Waterloo _flew towards the ring of the station, finally docking in a small, secluded bay in a tall tower in the center of the ring. As they docked, Roberts beckoned to Jacob and led him from the bridge. They went out of one of the _Waterloo_'s forward boarding ramps to meet the team of turians that had waited for the ship on the dock. Their leader, a black turian with white facial markings held out a three-fingered hand. "Identification?"

Both humans handed over their service cards, which were promptly scanned and handed back. The turian turned and walked away, the C-Sec officers accompanying him forming up around the three. They were escorted through a large number of elevators and hallways filled with all manners of species before finally coming to a large door. As the door opened, the escort turned and stood facing the hallway.

"Come," the turian said. "I do not want to keep the Council waiting."

The doors opened fully and the turian walked in, the two humans following. After being led to a long, protruding platform that hung above a glass floor separating the massive room from a smaller one below, the turian stopped at the very edge. Jacob stood, attempting to look calm, though he was giddy with excitement about being here.

Across the expanse on a separate platform, the Citadel Council stood, comprised of a turian, an asari, and a hooded salarian. The turian with the two humans spoke. "Councilors, I have brought the human assigned to the liaison duty."

"Thank you, Nihlus," the asari said. "Stay. As you are going on the mission it would be wise for you to hear your goals."

The turian bowed.

The asari councilor looked at Jacob. "You are Lieutenant Jacob Daniels, correct?"

Jacob nodded. "Yes, Councilor."

"And you were assigned to this mission?"

"Yes."

The turian Councilor spoke. "Do you think you are prepared for this mission, Lieutenant?"

Jacob nodded. "Yes, sir. I will perform to the best of my abilities."

"That is adequate," the salarian said. "We have no doubt that you will conform to the standards Nihlus will set you, Lieutenant. But you must also prove yourself to the crew as well."

"I will attempt to do so."

The asari Councilor gave an almost imperceptible smile. "Are you nervous, Lieutenant? Given the Systems Alliance's…history with the Hierarchy, I would assume you would be rather...anxious...at being the only human aboard a ship filled with turians."

"I'll try to keep myself open-minded, Councilor."

The salarian Councilor raised an eye ridge. "For the sake of the mission, you must. The planet you will be traveling to is very dangerous, Lieutenant. Batarians do not take kindly to humans there. And your presence may also doom your crew."

"We are prepared to give our lives in the service of the Citadel, Councilor." Nihlus said from beside Jacob.

Roberts coughed. "If I may speak, Councilors, what is the mission for?"

The turian Councilor looked at him. "The crew will be heading to the star cluster Styx Chiron in the Terminus Systems. The planet in question is Afranil. It is home to a batarian terrorist group, which the crew, led by Nihlus and a second Spectre, is going to take down."

"And you believe that the crew of a frigate can do that?"

"They are some of our most experienced C-Sec officers. We are confident that they can do so." The Councilor looked at Jacob. "Lieutenant, you have two hours to pack your belongings and transfer yourself to the crew roster of the turian frigate _Attican Sun_. Nihlus will accompany you and lead you to the ship when you are ready."

Jacob bowed. "I will be as quick as possible."

The asari Councilor nodded. "Good. This Council is adjourned."

Nihlus turned and jerked his head down the walkway. Jacob followed him as the turian led him back to the _Waterloo_.

**Yay! It took me a while to get this story done. It was hampered by both a lot of other story ideas and a heavy case of writer's block. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! R and R!**


	2. Setting Out

A few hours later, Nihlus led Jacob through the Presidium's corridors to the docking area. As they walked, Jacob looked at him. "So, is anyone going that I should know about?"

"There's a few. Garrus Vakarian. A junior officer, but he's capable. Then there's Saren Arterius. He was my mentor while I was in my first few years as a Spectre. He was the youngest Spectre to ever be appointed by the Council, and he's also one of the best." He looked at the human. "If you perform well on this mission, you could qualify for candidacy."

"Are there any human Spectres?"

"No." Nihlus stopped outside a door. "Here we are. The _Sun'_s docking bay." He swiped a card through a slot and the door opened, revealing a long dock with a turian frigate hovering alongside it, held in place by clamps. Turians walked everywhere, some loading equipment onto the ship, others meandering around and talking. Others were checking weapons.

Nihlus pointed to a turian with blue facial markings. "There's Garrus. You can go and talk to him if you like. I'm going to go over some things before we get going."

Jacob only watched as the Spectre walked off, then looked over at Garrus again. In addition to his facial markings, the turian had a small visor that covered one eye. He looked up at Jacob as the human sat down on a crate next to him.

"Am I to understand," he said, "That you're the liaison that will be accompanying us?"

Jacob nodded. "Before I was assigned here, I worked in the Alliance's CSI unit. Crime-solving. My superior recommended me, and here I am."

Garrus nodded. "Then this will be over quickly." He looked up and cocked his head to one side. Jacob turned to see Captain Roberts walking towards him. Jacob stood and saluted.

Roberts returned the salute. "At ease, son. Are you ready to leave?"

"Nihlus is going through the final preparations now, sir."

Roberts nodded. "Good. I wish you luck, Lieutenant. Be careful."

"I will, sir."

Nihlus's voice suddenly echoed through the bay. "All crewmen report to your duty stations. We're disembarking in ten minutes."

Turians all over the dock began to go aboard the _Attican Sun_. Roberts shook Jacob's hand. "Goodbye, Jacob. I look forward to seeing you upon your return."

Jacob nodded. "Thank you, Captain."

He turned and walked away. Roberts gave him a salute, then walked out of the bay as the ship detached from its moorings, backed out, and then turned and engaged its engines.

The _Sun_ flew away from the Citadel, its engines lighting up the void around it as it entered the Serpent Nebula. Jacob watched from the bridge as the dust and gas floated past the ship. It was quiet on the bridge. No one spoke. Finally, Jacob turned and walked out. As he walked, he bumped into a turian.

"'Scuse me."

The turian turned and put a hand on his shoulder. Jacob sighed. _I really hope he isn't planning on starting a fight._

Turning, he gently pushed the turian's hand away. Contrary to what he'd thought, the turian didn't look like he was planning to fight. Instead, he was smiling. "My apologies. You are the human we're bringing along?"

Jacob nodded. "What's your name?"

"Saren Arterius."

Jacob remembered that as the other Spectre accompanying the ship. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jacob."

Saren nodded. "A pleasure. The Systems Alliance takes this personally, I see."

"The Navy's police force recommended me for this."

"Maybe you will be able to show us your skills." Saren said.

The intercom buzzed. "Preparing to enter relay. All crewmen are advised to secure for transit."

Saren sighed. "And so, I must be going. A pleasure meeting you, Lieutenant."

Jacob watched as Saren walked away. "Likewise, Saren."

They walked away in opposite directions as the ship shot forward.

Later, Jacob was in his room. He smiled. _Officer equals solo quarters. Nice._

There was a knock on the door as Jacob laid out the portable computer he'd brought along on his desk. "Enter."

The door slid open and Garrus entered. "Lieutenant."

"Garrus." Jacob turned and sat on his bed. "What brings you here?"

"Nothing, really. Just curiosity."

Jacob nodded. "You've only heard bad things about humans, haven't you?"

Garrus shrugged. "They're not looked upon favorably with most turians."

"By the end of this trip, I hope some will think different."

Garrus looked out of the viewport on the far wall. Outside, a blue aura surrounded the ship as it sped through the galaxy. "What do you expect when we get there?"

"We'll probably be threatened repeatedly. Gunfights, bombs, people trying to kill us. It'll suck."

Garrus smiled. "No different from C-Sec, then."

Jacob chuckled. "Apparently not."

**Stargate SG-1 fans will recognize Jacob's description from O'Neill. Anyways, they'll arrive at the planet in the next chapter. R and R! Please!**


	3. Afranil

The _Attican Sun_ reached the Styx Chiron cluster a few hours later. The ship immediately engaged its engines, flying away from the blue light of the mass relay and into the space surrounding it. Jacob walked onto the bridge, accompanied by Garrus. The turian walked off to take his station at sensors, and Jacob walked up to stand beside Nihlus and Saren, his hands clasped behind his back, completely professional.

Nihlus pointed. "There it is. Afranil."

The planet loomed in front of the _Sun_, glowing amber in the light from the sun behind it. The pilot spoke. "Sir, where should I land?"

Jacob spoke before Saren or Nihlus could. "Land in the wilderness. We don't want to attract attention, especially here."

"And especially with a human on board," Saren muttered.

Jacob looked at Saren but said nothing as the _Sun_ banked and flew towards one of the green patches on the planet's surface. As the frigate shot over the trees, Nihlus looked over the pilot's shoulder before pointing. "There. Land by that lake."

The pilot did so, setting the _Sun_ down gently on the grassy shores of a small lake. Nihlus nodded. "Good." He keyed the intercom. "Attention. This is Nihlus Kryik. Marines to cargo hold. Unload the sensors and establish a perimeter. Scout team to main hatch."

"That would be my cue," Jacob said. He turned and walked out, followed by Garrus, who was part of the scouting team. Another turian took his place at his station.

The two met the rest of the scouting party in the armory, where they were choosing weapons. Jacob grabbed an assault rifle, a few grenades, and a pistol from a rack and faced the other turians as they watched him. "Okay, I wanted to clear up a few things before we move out. One, just because I'm human, doesn't mean I'm inferior to you. Two, just because I'm navy and you're marines, doesn't mean that you're stronger than I am. And three, I'm also in command of this group, so you don't give _me_ orders unless it's an emergency. Understand?"

There was a lot of head bobbing. Jacob nodded back. "Good. This is just a scouting mission, but remember, we're in enemy territory. Back in the Alliance Navy, the CSI guys had a motto. Stay together, stay alert, and stay alive. Simple, easy to remember." He looked around. "So, what're your names?"

Besides Garrus, there were three others. They spoke one after the other, only giving their first names. Their markings were red, gold, and green.

"Arkan."

"Menal."

"Teken."

Jacob nodded. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Jacob, and this is Garrus. Everybody suited up? Yes? Okay, let's go!"

They walked out of the armory and to the cargo hold, walking down the ramp to the ground and moving off into the forest as turians carried boxes to and fro and drones hovered out of the ship and began to patrol the landing site.

The group walked through the forest, ever alert for an ambush. The turians had visors like Garrus's to see, but Jacob had to rely on his eyes. Suddenly, Menal, who was on point, held up a hand, clenched into a fist. The group came to a stop in the middle of a clearing. Jacob, training his rifle on the woods with the rest, whispered to him. "What is it, Menal?"

"I heard something. Wait! There it is again!"

Jacob did hear something. Splintering, followed by a great crash. He motioned to Teken and Arkan. "You two go and check it out. I don't want any surprises while we're-"

_BOOM!_

The party went flying every which way as a loud explosion blew them in different directions and bullets began to fly through the air. Jacob felt projectiles hammering his shields as he ran behind a tree to get away from most of the fire. "Take cover!" he shouted. "Garrus! Arkan, Menal, Teken, where are you? Check in!"

The air was filled with gunfire. Jacob spotted a batarian running towards him, brandishing a shotgun. He popped out and unloaded on him, sparks flying from his target's armor as the bullets bounced off and eventually penetrated. The batarian fell backwards, dead.

Jacob heard a whistling noise. Diving away from his tree, he landed behind a rock as a grenade detonated, blowing the tree in half and causing it to fall to the ground with a great crash. Jacob rose and threw a grenade of his own, spraying the area with gunfire as he did. "Report!" he shouted. "_Report!_"

A wild yell from behind him caused him to turn. Grabbing his pistol with one hand he swung it out of its holster, the barrel clipping the batarian's head and knocking it to the ground. Jacob pointed his assault rifle down and emptied a flurry of rounds into the batarian while simultaneously filling another batarian full of pistol rounds, dropping him. "REPORT!"

"Jacob!"

Jacob looked over to see Menal behind a fallen sapling, firing from cover. "Menal! Where are the others?"

"I don't know, Jacob! I'm still disoriented from the explosion! What's going on?"

"Ambush! Batarians!"

"Grenade!" someone shouted as Jacob was tackled from the side. As they rolled to the side to escape the grenade's blast radius, he caught a glimpse of Arkan's red facial markings. As they came to a stop, Jacob's eyes widened. They'd landed next to Teken, who lay face down on the ground in a pool of blood.

He got up and tossed two grenades, blowing three batarians from their hiding places. A fourth tried to return fire, but was cut down.

Finally, quiet descended. Pillars of smoke drifted into the air from grenade explosions, areas of the ground were ablaze, and at least six trees lay strewn about the clearing, interspersed with bullet-riddled batarian corpses. Jacob looked around, then activated his comlink. "Garrus, where are you? Respond."

There was none. Jacob sighed worriedly and looked at his two remaining team members. "Spread out. Radio if you find Garrus."

They both nodded and split up. Jacob sat by Teken's body, both to protect the turian from scavengers and to be there in case Garrus came back. As he waited, he rolled Teken's body over. The turian's head lolled limply to one side, blood splattered across his face and partially obscuring his green facial marks.

It was night by the time Arkan and Menal got back. Menal's golden facial markings shone in the moonlight as the turian shook his head. "I couldn't find anything. No tracks, no bloodspots, nothing."

Arkan looked around the dark clearing. "Where could he be?"

Jacob perked up as his comlink crackled. "Vakarian here."

Garrus limped out of the shadows. As Jacob got up and walked towards him he began to tilt forward.

"Garrus!" Jacob grunted as he ran over and caught Garrus in the middle of his fall. He looked up at the others. "You two get Teken. We're going back to the ship."

As the two turians retrieved Teken's body, Jacob activated his comlink. "_Attican Sun, _this is Jacob. We've been ambushed. We have one member seriously wounded and another KIA. Have medical teams standing by."

He managed to straighten with Garrus leaning on him as Arkan and Menal came by carrying Teken's body. They walked back to the ship through the forest, though with the extra weight it took twice as long as it had taken to get to the site of the ambush. As they came within sight of the ship, two sentries pointed their rifles at them. "State your identity!"

"Stand down, marines."

Nihlus and a medical team walked over. Jacob gently set Garrus down. The turian was breathing heavily, and Jacob saw the large tear in his side. _Shrapnel from the explosion, no doubt._ He looked at Nihlus. "We were ambushed. They know we're here."

Nihlus frowned, the mandibles on the sides of his face flaring slightly. "That's impossible. How could they?"

Jacob shrugged. "I don't know. But we should probably move the ship. How much equipment do you have unpacked?"

"All we unpacked was the proximity sensors. But those are expendable."

Jacob nodded. "Good. In case we get attacked we might want to have the engines on standby. If we missed anyone, they'll undoubtedly report back."

Nihlus looked around. "In the meantime, we'll just have to keep an eye out. Get yourself inside, Lieutenant. You've done enough for today."

Jacob nodded and walked up the ship's ramp. A turian medic stepped in front of him. "Are you hurt, Lieutenant?"

Jacob shook his head. "I'm fine. See to Garrus."

The medic let him by and Jacob went to his room, collapsed on his bed, and fell asleep.

**This has to be the first story I've ever done that included a redshirt in it. Anyways, R and R! More to come soon!**


	4. Evidence

A batarian walked into a small hovel in Afranil's capital city, the moon shining down on the streets. It was midnight. Not many people were around. Going inside a small hovel, he came to a small table that held a holoprojector. Turning it on, he looked at the cloaked figure that materialized.

"Speak," it whispered.

"We ambushed a reconnaissance group in the forest. They killed the others, but I managed to escape. We killed one and badly wounded another."

"But they know you are aware of their presence."

The batarian took a step forward. "It was _your_ information that told us where they would land! We had to act quickly or they may have moved!"

"And yet," the figure replied, "You failed to kill them all. You have now alerted them to your presence in the forest. And with the other war you're fighting on this world, you will have no more luck here than they will."

The batarian gulped nervously. "Please…help us. You're in a position to aid us! Kill them as they sleep! There's nothing else we can do!"

"You will fight," the figure said coolly. "And you will die, unless I say otherwise. Do you understand? Or shall I contact your government and tell them what you are doing?"

The batarian stopped cold. "No! Please! They'll kill me!"

"Then you will continue to follow my instructions. Or else."

The hologram disappeared. The batarian whimpered. _What have I gotten myself into?_

Dawn came at the _Attican Sun_'s landing site. Jacob walked through the ship's corridors, passing the odd early-riser to the medical bay.

The place was a morgue and a hospital at once. Teken's body lay on a bed, covered by a bloodstained sheet. Garrus lay unconscious on another bed, being tended to by one of the ship's doctors. Jacob walked up. "How is he?"

"The wound still has a lot of shrapnel in it. I'm working on removing it right now."

"Will he live?"

"The wound is moderate. Second-degree burns, numerous lacerations from the shrapnel. He'll live."

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Tell me if anything changes."

"Will do."

He left the medical bay. Going outside, he walked down a corridor to the ship's gym. Going over to the far wall, he took a pair of bantos rods from the wall. Going over to a wooden practice dummy he began to swing at it, loud cracking filling the room as wood collided against wood. His strikes grew harder and louder until he finally hit the dummy hard enough to knock it over. He tossed the rods after it with a frustrated growl.

The next thing he felt was the touch of a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he straightened as he saw Saren behind him.

"Are you alright, Lieutenant?" he asked.

Jacob shook his head. "That was the first time I've ever led a mission, Saren. And I screwed it up."

"But you were in the security division in the Alliance navy."

"A desk job. The only time I went into the field was in a hostage situation while a group of sailors was on leave. As a negotiator."

"Why was it a hostage situation?"

"They'd been denied their pay for drunk and disorderly conduct and took a bar full of people hostage. After I got them to calm down, they were dishonorably discharged and imprisoned."

Saren nodded. "So, you're more of a logistics person."

"Logistics and forensics. I can still use a gun, though."

Saren shook his head. "What happened yesterday wasn't your fault, Jacob. You didn't know they were there."

"But I should have recognized the danger. I knew that this place would be dangerous and that they couldn't miss a Citadel ship landing, even in the outskirts. And the government may learn of this. Batarians are paranoid. They'll do anything to get any outside presence off of any of their worlds."

Saren put a hand on Jacob's shoulder again. "Then we will simply have to be more careful. Forensics teams reached the ambush site under escort after you returned. They have samples from the explosive that was used in the opening of the attack."

Jacob nodded. "I'll go put on my duty jacket and I'll be in the situation room in a minute. Is Nihlus there?"

"Yes. He's waiting for you."

"Tell him I'll be there shortly."

Saren nodded and they walked out together, going opposite ways. As Jacob walked back to his cabin, a turian sensors officer stopped him. "Lieutenant, I have the results of a scan from our long-range sensors. There's an anomaly I want you to look at."

"I'll deal with it after the meeting, Ensign. Or you could bring it. It might come in handy."

The turian nodded. "Yes, sir."

Jacob disappeared briefly into his room and came out wearing his blue uniform jacket. The turian escorted him to the situation room. The room was darkened and Saren and Nihlus, along with two other turians, stood around a holographic table in the center of the room. Jacob and the ensign came up to the table and Nihlus nodded at him. "Glad you could join us, Lieutenant."

"I had to get my jacket."

Saren snorted. Nihlus looked at him, then turned back to the table. Hitting a few tabs, he activated it. He turned to the two investigators. "Proceed with your explanation."

The senior of the two stepped forward. "The remains of the bomb we found were scattered, but together they provided enough evidence to be conclusive. A scan of the bomb's key components turned up partially corrupted by debris from the forest floor, but we have determined with a ten percent chance of error that the material is titanium alloy."

Jacob blinked. "That's a human metal."

"Why would humans work with batarians?" Saren asked, rubbing his chin with a hand.

"We don't know, sir. But the explosive element of the device is determined to be a geth compound."

"Humans and geth?" Nihlus asked. "That sounds highly unlikely."

"Unless there's another force at work here," Jacob said. "There's only one group of humans I know of that would stoop low enough to work with batarians. Cerberus."

"The mercenary group?" Saren asked in surprise.

"It's possible. They'll work with anyone to take over the Alliance." He looked at the investigators. "Where did the titanium come from?"

The junior of the pair stepped forward. "We looked through Hawking Chi's marketing schedule. For them to have a bomb in place within hours of our arrival, the delivery would have had to be very close, and able to be easily assembled and transported."

"If they wanted easily transported, they should have tried aluminum." Jacob said. "We'll locate the towns closest to the _Sun_ and investigate them."

He looked at the ensign. "Now, what do you have?"

The turian placed a small ship into a slot in the table. A holographic representation of the planet sprung up. "A few hours ago, the long range sensors picked up a trio of ships exiting FTL close to the planet's mass relay. We aren't really sure, but the profiles closely match that of geth ships."

"What could they want here?" Nihlus wondered.

"Who knows?" Saren asked. "They could be scouting. Investigating for an assault on the Terminus Systems and the entirety of Citadel space."

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Jacob said. "We need to be sure of what they're doing here, and why Cerberus would be working with geth and batarians. Two of the three want the Alliance gone, but what part could the geth play in this?"

Nihlus shrugged. "We will have to find that out for ourselves."

"Agreed," Saren said. "The rest of you, to your stations. The Lieutenant, Nihlus, and I must discuss this alone."

As the ensign and investigators left the room, Saren canceled the hologram. The three stood in almost complete darkness, the white light of the table the only illumination. "Now," he said. "We must inform the Council. This goes beyond a simple terrorist plot."

Jacob nodded. "You're right, Saren. Meet me in the ready room in an hour."

He turned and walked out of the room. Nihlus looked after him, then at Saren. "He shows promise, for someone that's been stuck with a desk job for most of his career."

Saren nodded. "Indeed. We may have a use for him."

**No, the "use" isn't bad. And the Cerberus plotline is basically a dead end. I had planned to expand the story a little, but I decided not to. R and R! More to come soon!**


	5. A New Plan

It was an hour later, after Saren, Nihlus, and Jacob stood in front of the room's three pedestals that the Council would speak from. The three didn't have long to wait as the holoprojectors shimmered, then resolved into the forms of the three Council members. The salarian member spoke. "We received your message, you three. This news is most disturbing."

"Indeed," the turian councilor said. "The geth becoming involved in this makes your mission all the more dangerous. We are dispatching another ship to you. The frigate _Ionia_ will be landing close to your current position. It is a salarian ship."

"We could use some asari commandos, Councilor," Nihlus said.

"Unfortunately," the asari Councilor said, "we do not believe that the situation is serious enough to warrant commandoes. You will make do with the _Ionia_ and your own material."

The salarian spoke again. "But enough of this talk. What is your status on the terrorist group?"

"They were somehow able to figure out where we landed a short time after we did. A scouting team led by Jacob was ambushed. One of the members was killed, another injured."

Jacob hung his head. The turian councilor looked at him. "We expect you to be more careful in the future, Lieutenant. What is the status of the injured one?"

"Garrus is recovering quickly and will live. If you will forward me Teken's dossier, I can write a letter home to his family."

The turian councilor looked vaguely impressed. "We will get on it. We are expecting great things from you, Lieutenant. Do not disappoint us."

"We will do our best, Councilors." Nihlus said. "But for now, we will await the arrival of _Ionia_. What is its ETA?"

"Two days, at the most. I would advise you to continue with your investigation until then."

"But," Saren said, "Turning back to the matter at hand, we have been able to ascertain the makeup of some of the bomb materials used in the ambush. We have a reason to believe that the human mercenary group Cerberus is cooperating with the terrorists and the geth may be as well."

The salarian nodded. "Good. Good luck, you three."

The holograms dissolved. Jacob looked at them both. "Do you think it's safe to risk another scouting mission?"

Nihlus looked at Saren. At the older turian's nod, he looked back at Jacob. "As soon as Garrus is recovered. But this time, we will move the ship closer to the town and update the _Ionia_ of our position. Then we will send you in with the Mako, or you may go in on foot and try to extract information piece by piece."

Jacob pondered for a moment before speaking. "I think the second option is better. There's a lot to be had in stealth and subtlety."

He turned and walked out of the room, turning to look at the turians. "And what will you two be doing?"

"We will be further examining the bomb materials. Perhaps we can identify the shippers and manufacturers. They may all be on this world."

Jacob bit his lip in thought and nodded. He then turned and walked out the door.

As he walked down the hallway, he looked at the turians that walked the _Attican Sun_'s hallways. He walked into his cabin and sat down at the terminal. He already had a message waiting. Opening it, he saw Teken's service record, along with the location of his parents. He turned on a messaging program and began to type.

To the parents of Teken Athean,

My name is Lieutenant Jacob Daniels of the human Systems Alliance. I was working with your son on an anti-terrorist operation. I regret to inform you that Teken was killed in action soon after we set down on the world. I take full responsibility, as I was not watchful for any signs of an ambush. I did not see him die, but I know that he most likely died bravely, fighting for a cause that he believed in. The enemy we fight is elusive, and it will take time for us to defeat them, but I give you my word that Teken will be avenged. His body will be sent back to your homeworld as soon as we are able to do so.

I am deeply sorry for your loss, and I know that no amount of apologizing will make up for the loss of a child.

Sincerely,

Jacob Daniels, Lieutenant, Systems Alliance Navy.

Jacob sat back in his chair. He sighed. Getting up, he walked over to his bed and reached into the duffle bag that lay beside it. Pulling out a small picture, he looked at it. It showed a quartet of young humans, two males and two females. All four were wearing Alliance naval uniforms. Jacob smiled. They had been his friends. They were all marines, all willing to take risks that Jacob was not comfortable with. At the moment, they were stationed on the Arcturus station, waiting to ship out to their next duty station. He should send a message when he had the time. But that could wait. Sending the message to Teken's parents, he got up, shut off the terminal, and exited the room, heading down to the med bay.

Walking into the room, Garrus was now sitting up. The doctor looked at him. "Lieutenant."

"Doctor." Jacob looked at Garrus. "How do you feel?"

Garrus smiled. "Better than I did."

"He should be able to walk now," the doctor said, "But he'll have to avoid activities that put strain on the injured area. I don't want to have to stitch him up again."

"You won't. This mission will be a cakewalk."

Garrus looked at him. "What will we be doing?"

"_You_ won't be doing anything. Arkan and Menal and I are taking the _Sun_'s rover and going into one of the cities to find someone that can give us information on the terrorist group."

Jacob looked at the turian doctor. "Take good care of him. We'll be back soon."

The doctor nodded. "I will. Good luck, Lieutenant."

"Thanks."

Jacob turned and left the room.

**Sorry I took so long to update on this. Anyways, R and R!**


	6. The Big City

By the time the team was ready to leave, they were all dressed in civilian clothing. Jacob finished putting on a leather jacket and then turned to Arkan and Menal. "You both ready?"

Both nodded. Jacob looked them over. They were dressed in turian civilian garb, which was more colorful than their duty wear. Both also wore the peculiar headclothes that seemed to be part of the outfit.

The rover was driven out of the _Sun_'s hold, and the three clambered in and immediately set off. Arkan and Jacob were in the front two seats, Menal in the back. They drove for what seemed like hours, eventually spotting lights out on the horizon. It was nightfall by the time they reached the city.

Parking the rover in an abandoned warehouse, Jacob looked around. "Are you two armed?"

Both nodded, patting the pistols at their sides. Jacob nodded. "Good. Come on."

They walked into the main part of the city. People stared. It wasn't often that a human was in the company of a pair of turians and apparently enjoying it. Arkan tapped Jacob on the shoulder. "We should try in there."

Jacob looked in the direction Arkan was pointing. It was a bar. _How cliché, _he thought, but nodded.

They entered the place. It was noisy, dirty, and full of people. Jacob looked at them both out of the corners of his eyes. "Look around, see what you can dig up."

"Where are you going?" Menal asked.

Jacob smiled. "For a drink."

They split up, moving through the crowded room. Jacob managed to worm his way to the counter and sat down in front of the bartender. The rotund volus nodded in greeting, his speech punctuated with hissing noises as he breathed in and out.

"Hello, Earth-clan. What can I get for you?"

"A shot and some information."

The volus turned to the shelves behind him. Jacob scanned the liquids and was surprised to see a bottle of vodka. As the volus turned and poured the bottle into a small shot glass, he cocked his head. "What information do you need, Earth-clan?"

Jacob looked around, then leaned close, looking into the bartender's green eyes. Lenses. Whatever. "What do you know about a terrorist group on this world?"

The volus set the shot glass down in front of him. "I know quite a bit, Earth-clan. The group you're talking about is strictly batarian. They don't trust anyone else."

"So they're even more paranoid than the batarian government?"

The volus nodded. "Right. They don't move around much. They believe they are safe here."

"Where would their base be?"

"On the east side, near the waterfront. But you didn't hear this from me."

Jacob finally picked up the vodka and downed it in one gulp, feeling it trail down his throat and into his stomach. He slapped a credit chip down onto the surface of the counter and stood. "Thanks."

"You are welcome, Earth-clan."

Jacob turned and moved toward the door, only to stop short as the muzzle of a gun was shoved into his face. He looked up. "Can I help you?"

It was a salarian, though his staggering and his inability to hold the pistol straight made Jacob suspect he was drunk off his ass. "What're yew doin' here…_hic_…human?"

Jacob slapped the pistol out of the way. "Not talking to you, that's for sure."

The salarian stumbled backwards and then ran forward in an attempt to punch him. Jacob dodged the blow and spun, pushing the salarian over a table. Its occupants yelled as the table crashed to the ground. The whole bar turned to him. On the far side of the room, he could see Arkan and Menal going for their guns.

So was the rest of the bar.

_Crap._

Jacob drew his own pistol and ran as the whole bar dissolved into chaos. People shot too close to other people, who turned on the first ones and soon the bar was filled with yells, the meaty smacks of fists impacting faces or chests, and the occasional _crack_ of a gun going off.

Jacob ran out of the door, Arkan and Menal following him. Arkan shook his head disapprovingly. "A bar fight?"

"The salarian started it. It wasn't my fault."

They all began to walk back to their warehouse. "So," Jacob said as they walked, "What did you guys find out?"

"The group's pretty small," said Arkan, "and they've restricted their operations to this city so far. That makes our job easier."

"They're also well armed," Menal added.

"Well, we won't encounter any humans among them," Jacob said. "The bartender I talked to said that the group is strictly batarian. They probably want to take all the glory for them-."

_BOOM!_

All three spun on the spot. A huge gout of fire had shot up from the ceiling and out the door of the bar, chunks of stone and metal flying through the air. Jacob looked at Arkan and Menal. "Let's get out of here."

They ran from the scene, going back towards the warehouse.

They slept in the rover that night, planning to wait for the _Sun_ to tell them its new position before moving. They'd brought blankets, knowing that the city was far away from the landing site and that it would probably be too late for them to go back to the ship by the time they got there.

Jacob stared out of the front window of the rover, looking at nothing. Arkan's head lolled onto his shoulder. _Why can't these seats be adjustable?_ Jacob wondered as the turian started to drool unconsciously and Menal, his head leaning back over the top of his seat, began to snore.

He tried to go to sleep regardless, and, despite the drooling and the snoring, eventually did.

**Note, both Arkan and Menal are pretty young. R and R! The climax is coming fast.**


	7. Reinforcements

As they drove along the next morning, the rover's radio crackled.

"Lieutenant, come in."

"Daniels here."

"We've managed to move the _Sun_ to a new location. The _Ionia _will be setting down with us in a few hours. They should be here by the time you arrive back at camp, over_._"

"Copy that. We got some useful intel on the terrorist group."

"Good. We'll inform the Council when you arrive. Over and out."

The radio shut off. Jacob looked at Arkan and Menal. "Have either of you ever worked with salarians before?"

Both nodded, Menal spoke. "They're the really analytical ones. They'll be a big help."

The console of the rover beeped. Arkan looked over it and tapped a few buttons. "We're getting the coordinates for the new landing site. We've also got ETA for the _Ionia_. They'll be here in about four hours."

"And how far away are we?" Jacob asked, not taking his eyes off of the barren landscape.

"About five."

So they'd be there by the time they got back. Jacob smiled. "Then we'll have evidence for them. And we'll need to act on it as soon as possible. If that was a suicide bomber back there, we have nothing to worry about. If it wasn't, then they'll probably be moving to a new location, or sitting there, waiting for us."

Menal looked at Jacob. "Do you really think they'll know we're coming?"

"People don't walk around idly asking questions about terrorist groups, Menal. They'll know we're coming. The fate of the mission, however, depends on how they react to it. They may see it as an opportunity, or they'll see it as a threat they can't cope with, and run. So we've got to get back as soon as possible. Sit tight."

He slammed on the accelerator and the rover sped up rapidly, now almost flying across the desert.

Little did they know, however, that they were being followed. A small, silver drone flew behind the rover. It scanned the vehicle, uploaded its schematics and every detail of its exterior into its memory banks, and then turned and flew off. A high-pitched whine filled the air as a large ship that had the appearance of a hornet flew over to it, a whirlpool of energy sucking the drone up inside it. Inside, the drone went absolutely still as a group of figures, their smooth, silver bodies shining in what little light there was inside the dropship, approached it. One tapped the surface of the drone. The metal plates split, revealing the drone's inner circuitry. A small projector spun up, then projected an image onto the dropship's wall. The figures, their single, blue, luminous eyes taking in the image and details of the rover, chattered amongst themselves in electronic signals. They stared at the insignia of the Citadel, took in the vehicle's design, its flaws, its characteristics. Now knowing everything that they needed to know, the dropship banked and flew up into the atmosphere, engaging its FTL drive and exiting it a few hours later inside a nebulae. The ship flew in among the twenty or so geth cruisers that hung there, motionless, waiting for the signal to strike.

***

When the rover pulled in beside the _Ionia_'s rover at the coordinates of the campsite, it looked much more conspicuous. The upside to that was that it was in an even more isolated location than it had been in the forest. This one was set in a circular gully inside a canyon. Salarians and turians walked among the two frigates, drones and sentries patrolled the perimeter, and supplies were unloaded as Jacob, Arkan, and Menal walked through the camp. Nihlus and a green-skinned salarian walked up to them both.

Nihlus nodded to each of them. "Welcome back, you three. Was your investigation worthwhile?"

Jacob nodded. "Yes. We managed to uncover several things about the terrorist group. But we need to act fast. I think we were overheard."

Nihlus's face immediately took on a more worried look. He then looked at the salarian, and beckoned. "Come on. Let's see your evidence and we'll decide on a plan."

A few minutes later they were in the _Attican Sun_'s situation room, once again gathered around the holographic table. Nihlus gestured to the salarian officer that had accompanied them. "This is Colonel Amariad, commander of the _Ionia_. He is also the leader of the STG that the Council sent us."

Jacob, Arkan, and Menal each nodded to Amariad, who nodded back. Nihlus looked at Jacob. "Let's see your evidence, Lieutenant."

"Right." Jacob walked forward and placed a chip inside the table. A hologram of the general area of both the campsite and the city came into view. "The terrorist group is concentrated in the city that we went to. They limit their strikes to that general area, and their base is inside a warehouse on the east side of the city. They also apparently receive weapons, so we should be prepared for anything. They're also exclusively batarian, so we don't have to worry about krogan or something like that."

"But if they're only batarian," Amariad interjected, "why are they working with the geth and Cerberus?"

Jacob shrugged. "I don't know. Throw off the trail, maybe. When do we strike?"

"Well," Nihlus said, "we'll have to insert ourselves into a place where we can move around easily. I'd suggest dropping the rovers from the ships, but there won't be enough clearance space. So we'll probably have to go by just the rovers themselves."

"Or we could just wait for them to come to us." said Arkan.

"They won't," Amariad said. "They probably don't have enough firepower. Besides, we have air support, two rovers, dozens of highly-trained soldiers and officers, and better weapons. If they do decide to attack us, it'll be only as a last resort."

"They're batarians," Jacob said. "If nothing's working, they _will_ get desperate enough to try and attack us head on, among other things."

"What do we do, then?" asked Menal. "Go in, or wait?"

Jacob, Arkan, and Menal looked from Nihlus to Amariad. Jacob then did a double take and looked around. "Where's Saren?"

"He went on a scouting mission to see if he could find anything suspicious that may indicate where the group has been." said Nihlus. "We've been maintaining regular check-ins, and we haven't picked up any strange communications."

"Strange in what way?" Jacob asked.

Nihlus was saved the trouble of answering when there was a loud _BOOM_ that, to Jacob, Arkan, and Menal had become all too familiar. Jacob realized where he'd heard it as the massive shockwave washed over the _Sun_, making it rock violently and throwing everyone to the floor.

Amariad stood up, a magnificently purple bruise already working its way from his cheek across his face. "What was that?"

Jacob grabbed the edge of the table and stood, bleeding from a gash in his forehead. "That was an explosion. A big one. We're under attack."

**Amariad isn't going to fit into the plot much. I needed someone to be the _Ionia_'s commanding officer and he was the first person I thought of. I'll post another chapter along with this one. R and R! Please!**


	8. Geth

The five ran outside to find the campsite in chaos. Salarians and turians ran everywhere, firing wildly at figures that were charging through the flames. Explosions from barrels of volatile compounds sent more gouts of fire into the air and soldiers ran screaming, several flailing their arms wildly as they caught fire and burned to death.

Jacob drew his pistol and fired a few shots at one of the attackers. The rounds glanced off of its shield and the thing turned towards them, revealing a blue, unblinking eye.

"Geth!" Nihlus shouted as the bright red synthetic turned in their direction and shot a rocket off at them. They dove for cover and the rocket flew by, slamming into the ground and sending a fountain of dirt into the air. Jacob picked up an assault rifle from a fallen turian and sprayed the rocket trooper with it. The heavier rounds pierced the geth's shields and sent sparks flying from its metal body as slugs impacted.

Pulse rifle blasts and mass accelerator slugs were flying every which way. More and more Citadel forces were being cut down, though they were now managing to coordinate their efforts. Jacob turned around a corner while trying to find cover only to come face to face with a pure white geth shock trooper. The geth backhanded him across the face and Jacob was amazed that his collarbone didn't shatter. Nevertheless, the blow sent him spiraling through the air to land in a stack of crates. Shaking his head to clear it, he saw the shock trooper standing over him, its pulse rifle leveled at his head. It then jerked and fell over, the light in its head going out. Jacob stared at the shell for a moment before looking up.

Garrus stood there, an assault rifle in one hand. The other was stretching towards him.

Jacob grabbed the hand and got up, and they both ran to find cover behind crates with the other Citadel forces. The battle was clearly defined now, the geth lining up on one side of the clearing. The whining of dropships filled the air and more and more geth marched inexhaustibly through the flames.

Jacob downed a regular, grey trooper with a sustained burst from his assault rifle when one of the surviving members of the Citadel forces pointed. An especially large shape was marching from the flames. The shape had four legs and an elongated head coupled with a shining blue eye in the shape of a semicircle.

"Armature!" someone shouted. As the Armature's main gun began to glow blue, the Citadel forces scattered. Jacob dove forward as the blue pulse hit the ground, sending a blue cloud of plasma arcing all over for a short distance.

"Use your omni-tools!" Amariad shouted. "Take out its weaponry!"

As many of the Citadel fighters took out their omni-tools, mass slugs from the Armature tore through the air, cutting down a salarian who was trying to get to another piece of cover. Garrus stepped out from behind the stack of crates they were standing behind and implemented a sabotaging program. The weapons on the Armature suddenly sparked and flashed, melting into useless lumps of metal. Jacob took this opportunity to run forward and throw a grenade at the Armature. The grenade hit the thing's eye dead center and Jacob detonated it. The Armature staggered, shook, and then toppled over.

And finally, all was quiet. Nihlus, his uniform scorched and torn in several places, looked around at the campsite.

The _Ionia_ had been destroyed in the opening seconds of the attack. It was now one big fireball. The Citadel forces had also lost their two rovers, which were twisted hunks of flaming metal and rubber. Several dozen salarians and turians were dead, their corpses mingling with dead geth all over the campsite. Breathing heavily, Jacob looked around for Arkan and Menal. Both were on the opposite side of the line of remaining Citadel soldiers, alive and well.

As the survivors set to cleaning up the mess left by the battle, an engine became audible and a rover pulled into the canyon. Saren got out of it, looking around in shock. He stared at Nihlus. "What happened here?"

"We were attacked." Amariad said. "The geth somehow knew we were here."

He had no sooner finished this sentence than a loud, almost ear-shattering boom rolled across the desert and into the gully.

"Send a drone up there!" a soldier shouted. A recon drone from the _Attican Sun_ was dispatched to look around. It didn't have to look long. A huge mushroom cloud, clearly visible even from that distance, was rising from where the city used to be.

"Oh my God…" Jacob whispered.

"This has gone beyond what we can do alone," Nihlus said. "Now, we need a fleet."

They posed that very request to the Council the next morning.

"Absolutely not!" the turian Councilor said. "We cannot risk provoking a war with the Terminus Systems!"

"But millions of people will die!" Jacob cried. "The geth that attacked the camp last night destroyed the closest city almost immediately after! We sent recon drones and search parties out there. Nobody survived! They could do that to the entire planet! The entire star cluster! Would you have their blood on your hands?"

That shut the turian Councilor up. The asari took over. "You have a valid point, Lieutenant. But as you know, we cannot open negotiations with the governments of the Terminus Systems. They have severed all diplomatic ties. We can do nothing."

"I think the sight of a Citadel fleet defending a planet from attack would be just cause not to start a war, Councilor." said Nihlus.

"Be that as it may, Nihlus," the salarian said, "We must still discuss this. What do you plan to do now?"

"We don't know for sure," Saren said. "But we've transferred all of the surviving _Ionia_ crew members to the _Attican Sun_, because that attack hit us just as hard as it hit them. We're also going to move to a new location. If the geth can find us here, then they will come back, and try to finish the job."

The councilors looked at each other. The asari looked at Nihlus, Jacob, and Saren. "You make valid points, but we are still not sold that sending a fleet, even a small one into the Terminus Systems, is a good idea. We will debate the matter and get back to you later."

The Council faded and Jacob growled. "The geth will be all over this world and us by the time they reach a decision! We've got to act now!"

"We can't, Jacob." Nihlus said. "The Council's word is law. If they don't want to send a fleet into the Traverse, then they won't."

"He's right, Lieutenant." Saren said, nodding. "There's nothing we can do until the Council reaches a decision."

"We could search the cluster," Jacob suggested. "One ship doesn't attract much attention, so we should be able to scout around and see if there are any geth cruisers around."

The two Spectres looked at each other for a moment. Nihlus turned to Jacob. "We'll think about that. Get some rest, Lieutenant. We've all had a hard night."

**Armatures aren't that hard to take down in the game, to be honest...anyways, three chapters in one day. Haven't done that in a while. R and R! **


	9. Observe and Report

The next morning, everything that hadn't been destroyed in the attack had been packed aboard the _Sun_. The ship took off, flying up into space. On the bridge, Jacob bent over the chair of one of the crew. "What is that?" he asked, pointing to a large blue mass that was moving towards the planet.

The salarian shook his head. "I don't know, sir. It's moving fast, though."

Jacob stood up and shouted across the bridge. "Nihlus!"

The Spectre turned from his conversation with the navigation officer and walked over to the computer. Looking at the display, he blinked in puzzlement. "That can't be good…"

"What can't be good?" Saren asked as he leaned down to look at the screen as well. The salarian, now very nervous with three superiors hanging over his shoulder, began doing a scan of the cloud. Jacob, Nihlus, and Saren watched as a small square, representing the scan, moved through the strange contact. The results came up and the salarian leaned back in his chair. "It looks like a nebula, sirs. Though what one would be doing moving, I have no idea."

"It may be artificial," Jacob muttered. "A ruse by the geth."

The intercom crackled. "Lieutenant Daniels and Spectres Kryik and Arterius to the com room."

The three looked at each other, then went across the ship to the briefing room. The Council was already there, waiting. The asari spoke as soon as Saren, Nihlus, and Jacob were standing, in a line, in front of them.

"We have considered your request, and after much debate, decided that the situation demands it."

The salarian spoke. "It would not reflect well on our apparent capacity to deal with threats if we suddenly allowed a planet to drop out of contact with the rest of the galaxy and not investigate why. We are sending a small fleet to your location. The flagship is the turian dreadnought _Pride of the Hierarchy_. They should be there in a short time."

"Update us on the situation, you three," said the turian.

Jacob took a deep breath. "Well, Councilors, we uncovered a sensor anomaly while searching the planet. Now that the group has undoubtedly been destroyed with the bombing of the city, there seemed no need to remain on the planet. Anyways, we've encountered a large cloud moving towards the planet. It seems to be artificial, and we suspect it may be a ruse by the geth."

The Council looked at each other. The salarian spoke. "Merely observe for now, you three. Do not investigate the cloud unless it is prudent to do so. Wait for the fleet. That is all."

Jacob, Saren, and Nihlus bowed as the FTL link cut out.

As they exited the com room, Jacob diverted from returning to the bridge. Instead he went to his room and called up everything that the Alliance had on turian ship designs. There wasn't much, as the largest military superpower in the galaxy wasn't going to give up military secrets anytime soon. There was enough, giving Jacob a view of turian fightercraft, and all their classes of ships, readouts and photos taken from the attack on Shanxi and the first few battles of the First Contact War. He wondered how big the fleet would be.

There was a knock on his door.

"Come in," he said. He turned to see Saren standing in the doorway. Instead of the cool, calculating look he had whenever Jacob saw him, the turian now looked angry. There was a spark in his blue eyes that hadn't been there before. Saren stomped across the room and shoved his face into Jacob's, almost nose-to-nose with him.

"I will be straight with you, _Lieutenant," _he growled, the last word having a mocking ring to it that Jacob didn't like. "We have allowed you to remain remarkably free-willed on this mission so far, but only because I have not been around for most of this investigation. So I will be quite clear. When we are in this battle, Nihlus and I are the _only_ ones who give orders. You just stand around like a good little human and do what you're told."

"Why?" Jacob asked.

Saren growled and put his three-fingered hand on Jacob's chest, pushing the young man back until he was bent over his desk. "Because your species is remarkably short-sighted," the turian whispered. And that wasn't the only thing whispering. Jacob's eyebrows came together in puzzlement as a sort of speech filled his head. Various messages were hidden in it, but he couldn't decipher them.

Saren brought him back to reality by grabbing Jacob by his jacket collar and lifting him off the floor. "To me, you humans are nothing but filth that must be cleansed from the galaxy. I only tolerate your presence on this ship because the Council has asked it of me. If you jeopardize this mission in any way, I will kill you myself. Am I clear?"

"But why…"

"Am _I CLEAR?_" Saren roared.

Jacob grabbed Saren's arm and tried to pull it off of him. The turian's hand dug deeper into the fabric of his jacket. Saren growled again and pulled the human close, his breath going straight into Jacob's face. His voice was a whisper again, supplemented by the voices that whispered in the back of Jacob's mind. "You have no idea of what's coming, Jacob. None of you do. If you are wise, you will make the right decisions for more than one cause."

The turian shoved him away and stormed out of the room. Jacob narrowed his eyes. According to military consultants of both the Citadel and the Alliance, a full-scale war between the turians and humans would have destroyed much of the galaxy. Add that to the billions of humans that there were, and only three percent of them in the military and only a fraction of their economy given over to the military, the turians would have had one tough fight on their hands. Torfan had been a good example with the batarians. If Saren was implying that the turians were planning something…

Jacob smoothed the front of his uniform with a hand as he walked out of his room and back into the hustle and bustle of the rest of the ship. What had caused Saren's sudden mood swing? Could it be the whispers? It was possible. Stress about the mission? Saren was a veteran Spectre, one of the best; he wouldn't suddenly crack on a mission. Then again, the turian had been absent from the investigation lately. But Nihlus had said Saren was out looking for clues…

Jacob gnawed on his lip as he thought about this.

**I started writing this story before I either played the game or read any of the books, so I didn't really have a semblance on Saren's attitude towards humans. Just to clarify why he's been so polite, I put in "I' only tolerate your presence" as an explanation. R and R! **


	10. Planning

The fleet arrived a few days later. By then the nebula had encircled the planet, encompassing both the world and its relay. Jacob, Nihlus, and Saren stood over the holographic display near the rear of the bridge. The fleet was shown, along with the planet and the cloud. Nihlus pointed the fleet out as a small cluster of green shapes, moving towards the _Sun_'s location.

"This is our fleet. Luckily, the nebula didn't cut them off from the planet and the mass relay. Who knows what could be hiding in there?"

Jacob motioned for one of the holotable's operators to change the view. The green clusters were highlighted and then split into categories. Jacob quickly counted ships and was surprised. "There's only twelve!"

"With a dreadnought, Lieutenant," Saren said, the word still said with a mocking tone, "you do not need many ships."

Jacob bit his lip as he looked at the fleet again. The fleet seemed prepared for anything. There was the _Pride of the Hierarchy_, along with seven cruisers and four frigates. Firepower aplenty.

But would it be enough?

The intercom squawked. "Sirs, I have the Executor of the _Pride_ for you."

"Patch him through," Saren said.

A calm, deep voice crackled through the _Sun_'s speakers. "_Attican Sun_, this is _Pride of the Hierarchy_. We are detecting that you are the only ship in orbit at this time besides us, but that's not saying much. Most of our sensors are being blocked by that cloud."

"What do you propose we do then, Executor?" asked Nihlus.

"You, Spectre Arterius, and the human soldier will come aboard our ship where we will formulate a plan. Bring your ship in to dock. I will have a group of guards waiting."

The link closed. Nihlus called to the pilot. "Bring us in to dock with the _Pride_."

"Yes, sir."

The _Sun_'s engines fired and the ship flew over to the dreadnought. Trios of turian fighters, long and slim, oriented vertically, with perpendicular wings, patrolled the outer borders of the fleet as it moved ever closer to the planet.

As Nihlus, Jacob, and Saren went through the airlock and were subjected to the decontamination procedure of the room beyond, Jacob bit his lip. The Citadel troops on the _Sun_ didn't hate him, but they didn't speak to him much, either. Arkan, Menal, and Garrus were the only ones that talked to him regularly. Nihlus and Saren were normally too busy with other matters. How would these react?

The doors opened and the three came face-to-face with a number of turian guards. One of them held out his hand. "Identification."

The three presented their IDs and were cleared. The guards then formed up around them and escorted them through the dreadnought's hallways to a sliding door. The door opened and another turian, who Jacob suspected was the ship's commander, looked up at the sound. He nodded and beckoned the three in.

Jacob looked around as Nihlus and Saren preceded him on entering the room. The situation room on the _Pride_ was dark and large. The rectangular holographic table cast an eerie green light on the meeting. In addition to the ship's commander there were also a number of other turian officers, most likely the commanders of the other ships in the fleet, in addition to the leaders of each ship's air wings and marine detachments.

The Executor pointed at a highlighted area of the space around the planet. "We'll make our stand here. We can fight with our backs to the wall, so they can't circle around us. But we also need to know what we're up against."

"The _Sun_ could make a scouting run," Jacob suggested as Saren shot him a nasty glare.

The Executor looked at him, surprised. "Would the crew be willing?"

"More than so. We might also be able to lure out whatever is hiding in that cloud. It'll be simple. We go inside the cloud and look around until we find it. You keep your attention focused on that cloud and keep your weapons primed, and we'll find a way to get them to you so that you don't have anything but a turkey shoot to look forward to."

The Executor, along with the other turians, looked confused. "'Turkey shoot'?"

"It'll be like a shooting gallery."

There was a collective "Oh."

The Executor looked at Nihlus and Saren. "Do you two agree with this plan?"

Nihlus nodded. "It's well conceived. But there are two ways it could go wrong. We may come out on the wrong side and force you to shift your position, allowing the ones that don't chase us to come out and hit you from the side. Then there's also the possibility that the ship will be destroyed."

"We have the GARDIAN systems for that," Jacob said. "We don't have to worry about missiles or fighters. If we divert power from everything except kinetic barriers and life support, we should be able to make ourselves slow enough to chase, but fast enough to stay ahead of them."

Saren snorted. "The geth are smart, Lieutenant. They learn as they go. How do you know that the quarians never tried this trick on them?"

"Because we're not quarians."

Saren started to growl but Nihlus talked over him. "It's settled then. We'll go as soon as the fleet is in position."

The other turians agreed, and the meeting broke up. As Jacob, Nihlus, and Saren walked back to the _Sun_'s airlock, Jacob really hoped the plan worked. If it didn't, millions would die. And those millions might only be the beginning.

**I don't really know if an Executor is the commanding officer of a turian ship, because I'm just going by the Mass Effect subtitles. Anyway, the big battle's coming up in the next chapter, so I'll post it soon. R and R!**


	11. Defense of Afranil

The fleet was fully deployed over the planet's surface. Though the planet's government had been asking questions, the cloud and the fact that the Citadel fleet was between it and the planet seemed to help their attitudes a lot. As the last fighter got into position, the _Attican Sun_ began to move forward, into the cloud.

As he watched the thing get closer, Jacob looked at all the sensor screens around him. They'd probably all go haywire the moment they were inside. Inside something with this much dust and ice and junk, you'd be lucky to find anything at all.

True to his prediction, their sensors cut out as they entered the cloud. Their communications were still up, though. Jacob gestured for the pilot to open a channel to the _Pride_. "_Pride_, this is Lieutenant Daniels. We'll try to loop around and come back to you if we find anything. Keep your weapons primed, just in case."

"Copy that, Lieutenant. Weapons on all ships are armed and ready."

The transmission dissolved into static as the _Sun_ pressed deeper into the cloud. Jacob looked at the bits of ice and dirt that floated through the cloud.

They all lost track of how far and how long they flew, searching the cloud for anything. They finally got a very scattered contact on the radar, and made their way towards it.

Jacob looked at the display that showed an outside view of the ship. At first it was nothing but clouds. Then traces of silver and blue began to show. The traces turned into patches, the patches into pieces, and finally, the pieces became geth ships. At least twenty of them, with fighters patrolling the space around them.

"Uh oh." Nihlus muttered.

Jacob tapped the turian pilot on the shoulder. "Get us out of here."

The turian nodded, flipping the ship over and then righting it as they sped out of there, but too late. They'd been detected. The geth ships flew after them, their wasp-like shapes cutting through the cloud like knives.

Back among the Citadel fleet, the Executor of the _Pride_ stared at the cloud. He was distracted by the sensors officer calling out to him. "Executor, I have something. It's coming our way."

"Set kinetic barriers to maximum, activate weapons systems. Instruct the rest of the fleet to do likewise."

"Yes, sir."

The Executor looked up as the cloud parted and the _Sun_ came through, its engines flaring as it shot through space towards the Citadel fleet.

"Sir, I've scanned their engines. They're exceeding the normal safety parameters for a frigate of that type."

"They have good reason to," said another as the ship's pursuit exited the cloud.

The Executor's jaw dropped as the fleet of geth ships shot out of the cloud after the _Sun_. They pulled up sharply, apparently surprised at the presence of the Citadel fleet. Then they began to move forward again. The Executor was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a moment. He stammered briefly, pointing at the ships with a shaking hand.

"Target the ge…target the…target the geth. Target all of them, SOMEBODY FIRE!"

The entire fleet obliged and missiles and mass accelerator fire flew through space towards the geth fleet. They responded in kind, and soon the space around the planet was filled with explosions. Fighters from both sides were dogfighting among their larger counterparts, which were now mingling and exchanging fire every chance they got.

Jacob tapped the turian pilot of the _Sun_ on the shoulder again. "Let me drive."

The turian quickly obliged. Nihlus looked skeptical. "Do you know what you're doing, Lieutenant?"

"I was one of the top pilots at the academy. I could have flown a ship like this, but I decided to go CSI."

Nihlus fell silent at this answer. Jacob looked at the screen and whispered to himself.

"I am a leaf on the wind," he breathed. "Now watch how I soar."

The _Sun _shot through every twist and turn possible as it flew through the battle, warding off missiles and fighters alike with its GARDIAN as well as making the occasional strafing run on a geth cruiser.

Outside the ship, the battle had increased in ferocity. Ships were now in danger from debris as well as enemy fire. A geth fighter was critically damaged by its turian opposite and went into a death spiral, crashing into a turian cruiser's engines. The engines sparked and died, leaving the ship dead in space and almost target practice for the geth cruiser that rode by it, firing a broadside.

The _Sun _turned and went back into the battle. As the ship moved, Jacob got a good view of the battle. Explosions lit up space. The _Pride of the Hierarchy_ was burning as it exchanged furious broadsides with a geth cruiser. Though the Citadel fleet was putting up a good fight, the geth's superior numbers were beginning to tell.

"We need to find the command ship," he said. "Someone find out!"

Saren ran to the back of the ship and looked at the map. Closely examining it, he found out an interesting piece of information. Though the geth had ships that were identical to the last rivet, they left very subtle clues as to what ship was the command. All of their movements rotated around a single ship, like a star in a solar system. The ship in question was moving through the battle, firing at anything that wasn't of geth design. He marked the ship on the display. "That one, Lieutenant. But how do you suggest we take it out?"

Jacob stared at the ship for a moment. Its point defense systems would be too much of a danger to risk dozens of strafing runs. The rest of the fleet was too preoccupied for a frontal assault…

There was only one way.

"From the inside," he replied. He hit the intercom as the _Sun_ flew back into the battle. "Attention all marines, this is your pilot speaking. Report to the escape pod bay and await further orders. All non-combat personnel clear the starboard side."

Jacob scanned the geth ship. Its kinetic barriers were still taking sporadic fire, but they were very weak. What Jacob had in mind would most likely get them inside it, but would it be enough?

He flew the ship back to the battle and made straight for the geth command ship, guns blazing. They instantly knew that they had picked the right ship. Immediately, the free weapons of other ships began blazing away at the _Sun_, and fighters that weren't being chased immediately concentrated on them. Jacob didn't slow the ship down. He sped it up, the reactors redlining.

He turned on the intercom. "Brace for impact."

He screwed his eyes shut, really hoping that the seatbelt would keep him in place.

The _Sun_ slammed into the geth ship.

**See if you can find all of the Firefly references I put into this. I'll post the rest of the story too.**


	12. The Belly of the Beast

Jacob woke up to a cacophony of noise. Red lights were flashing, alarms were sounding, people were shouting, and he also noticed he was upside down. Undoing his seat belt, he cursed as he fell and hit his head on the floor. He looked around. On the display was a message that read all escape pods launched. Someone had caught onto his plan, then. He looked around. Nihlus wasn't there and neither was Saren. Several of the bridge crew slumped in their seats, killed by the impact.

He got up and made his slow way to the armory, grabbing a shotgun, a pistol, and an assault rifle.

He then donned a suit of armor, put on the helmet, sealed it, then went to the airlock. He hit the button, waited for the pressure to equalize, then opened the door.

There was nothing there. Sure, there was stuff, like debris and the bodies of geth and Citadel troops, and escape pods that had been launched on the ship's entry and crushed a number of other geth, but the place was empty otherwise. He could hear gunfire coming from the interior of the geth ship, though. He began to move towards the sound, but gasped as he put too much weight on one of his legs. He looked at it, his helmet's display telling him all he needed to know. His stunt had torn his leg open, a large gash that was dripping blood into his boot. Taking out a medi-gel pack, he slathered the wound with it. The gel immediately dried and hardened, sealing the wound. Jacob could now easily put weight on it. He turned, looking at the _Sun, _and then winced. Its nose had slammed into the floor of the geth ship and was now crumpled. Two of its stabilizing fins had been torn off by the impact, now sticking up bizarrely like ruined columns. Geth metal was also scattered around the room. There was a large hole in the ceiling, but Jacob had five hours of air in his suit, so he wasn't unduly worried.

_I'll be dead before then_, he thought. He set off deeper into the cruiser, his assault rifle out and ready.

Nihlus, Garrus, Arkan, and Menal, in addition to another squad of Citadel soldiers, stood on the other side of a room from a security team of geth. Pulse rifle bursts and mass slugs flew back and forth. Geth dropped to the floor, sparks flying from their ceramic "skin" as their shields were overwhelmed. Citadel soldiers cried out in pain as pulse rifle shots ripped through their own shields. A turian was being dragged out of the action as Jacob came in from a side corridor that was perpendicular to the geth. He turned the assault rifle on them and mowed the distracted synthetics down without pause.

Garrus, Arkan, and Menal came up to him as Nihlus began directing those with wounded back to the ship. Garrus smiled. "We were wondering when you'd wake up and come to join us."

"What's the situation?"

Arkan picked up the story. "We've split up into several strike teams and are looking for something big and fragile that we can blow up that will hopefully destroy the whole ship."

"So far," Menal said, "We haven't had much luck. We need a schematic or something."

As they spoke, one of the salarians in the team was sweeping the walls with an omni-tool. The thing started beeping rapidly as he brushed it over a section of wall. "Sir!" he shouted to Nihlus. "I think I found something!"

They all ran over to it. The salarian hit a few more keys on his omni-tool and a small hologram of the ship's interior appeared. The salarian pointed to a small point. "Here's where we are. What the omni-tool detected were power wires. They run through the ship and all have a junction _here_." he said, pointing at another area near the front of the ship. "That must be the power generator."

"We'll make for that, then." Jacob said. He looked at Nihlus. "We'll have a better chance of making it if we split up. I'll take Garrus, Arkan, and Menal. You lead the rest."

Nihlus nodded and made a series of signals to the rest of the Citadel forces. They ran down a hallway while Jacob and his team did the same. Jacob and his team steadily crept down the hallway in single file. Jacob was on point, followed by Garrus, Arkan, and Menal. Jacob tapped his headset to contact Nihlus. "Nihlus, are you there?"

"Yes. What is it, Lieutenant?"

"Where's Saren?"

"He went off into the ship alone. I don't know where he is, he's not answering his comlink."

Jacob bit his lip for a moment as the four turned a corner. "All right. Thanks for the info."

"You're welcome."

Jacob and the others continued on their way. The route they were taking was strangely devoid of activity. No geth popped out at them from corners, no pulse bolts suddenly filled the hallways with a sudden ambush.

At least, not until the shock trooper showed up. It turned a corner and raised its rifle. It fired, and blue pulse blasts flew down the hallway, hitting Menal in the back. The shots sliced through the turian's shields easily and Menal screamed as he went down. Garrus tackled Jacob to the floor as Arkan spun and unloaded on the geth. Sparks flew from its ceramic casing as the rounds penetrated its shields and armor. It dropped.

Jacob extracted himself from under Garrus and ran over to Menal, kneeling beside him. Gently, he turned the turian over, allowing his ruined back to be concealed by the floor. Menal was still alive. Barely.

Jacob turned to Garrus. "Medi-gel?"

Garrus shook his head. Arkan did likewise. Jacob reached for his own pouch before realizing he'd used up the only pack on his leg wound. Carefully, as if cradling a newborn, he took Menal in his arms. The turian's eyes fluttered open. Jacob smiled encouragingly. "How do you feel?"

Menal's eyes closed, then opened weakly. "I…I think I'm done, Lieutenant."

Jacob shook his head. "No, you're not. We can get you back to the ship, they have medi-gel, we can…"

Menal shook his head. "I can't…feel my limbs, Jacob."

Jacob looked at the fried bits of bone and the cauterized blood seeping out from under Menal and staining his armor's legs. Jacob looked back up at Menal. "I'm sorry, Menal."

Menal smiled a little. "So am I…Lieutenant."

His head lolled to one side, his eyes closing.

Arkan and Garrus looked at the lifeless turian, then at Jacob. The young man's eyes were closed too, though tears of rage were seeping from under the lids. He gently laid Menal's body down onto the smooth floor, then looked up at the two remaining members of his squad. "Let's move."

They continued, now moving in a rotating triangle, always down the corridors. Eventually, a loud thrumming began to fill the air. It was punctuated by the sounds of battle. Explosions and gunfire were echoing down a passageway, along with screams and electronic buzzing. Jacob and his squad ran down the hallway to the battle area, stopping short at seeing what might have been all of the Citadel soldiers on board the _Sun_ fighting a large number of geth. Jacob stopped short at seeing a massive, white geth. He put his rifle away and took out his sniper rifle. Aiming through the sight, he centered the crosshairs on the prime and fired.

The slug took the prime in the head; shattered its eye and made it fall to the floor with a loud _bang_. Instantly, the cadre of shock troopers that had surrounded it turned in their direction. Arkan suddenly pushed Jacob to one side as a red flash entered his vision. There was a loud _wham_ and the clatter of armor on deck plating, then a large amount of gunfire and two explosions. Finally, quiet descended, except for the omnipresent hum that came from the ship's power generator.

Jacob looked around, taking account of his squad. There was Garrus, breathing heavily as he sat against the doorjamb, his gun smoking from its recent amount of discharges.

Then there was Arkan, lying on his side in the middle of the corridor with a thin wisp of smoke rising from the chest plating of his armor. Jacob turned him over onto his back. The turian's eyes were wide open, red blood smeared across his scarlet facial tattoos. Jacob brushed his hands across the dead soldier's face, closing his eyes as he did. Nihlus walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Jacob."

"Menal died too. Not five minutes ago."

Nihlus looked up the corridor. "Where?"

Jacob gave him directions. Nihlus motioned to four Citadel soldiers. Two of them picked up Arkan's body and carried it between them, following the other two as they followed the directions towards the corridor where Menal's body lay.

Jacob stood up, looking at the door that separated the remaining members of the strike teams from the power room. "I'm okay. Let's finish this."

They entered the room and took out explosive charges. The eerie blue glow from the generator surrounded them, its hum nearly deafening. Finally, they exited the room, still alert for a late ambush. Jacob looked at Nihlus. "You sure that was all of them?"

"They called out the prime. I'd say that the situation was desperate enough."

Jacob bit his lip, unsure, but they returned to the _Sun_ without incident. They reentered the vessel and Jacob sat down in the cockpit again. "I hope this thing can go in reverse…"

He hit a button and maneuvering thrusters on the nose activated, propelling the _Attican Sun_ out of the hole it had torn into the geth ship's hull. Jacob saw Nihlus, staring out of the viewport, press the detonator.

The geth ship was torn apart by a series of explosions as it moved into give its twin covering fire from the _Pride of the Hierarchy_. As the second geth ship exploded too, Jacob finally got a look at how the battle had changed while they were inside. At least fourteen geth cruisers hung in space, afire as their atmospheres vented. Debris tumbled lazily through space, twirling between the remaining ships of the Citadel fleet. Only five of the original ships were able to move under their own power. The rest had either been badly damaged or destroyed. Jacob gently piloted the ship down to a river that came near a waterfall.

Nihlus looked out of the window. "What are we doing here?"

"Giving our dead a proper send off," Jacob replied, taking off his helmet and winking at Nihlus.

Hours later, it was all ready. The remaining members of the _Sun_ and _Ionia_ crews stood on the riverbank, watching the dozens of rafts on the shore. Nihlus sighed and began to speak. "Days ago, we embarked on this mission to ensure peace in the lives of those in the galaxy that know peace. These soldiers gave their lives in order for that peace to remain in place. Though we cannot bring them back, they leave us with the knowledge that they died fighting for a great cause, and that we succeeded in our goal."

With that, he and several others from the crew began to gently place the bodies on the small wooden rafts they had made. Maneuvering them out onto the river, the remaining Citadel soldiers only watched as the rafts went over the waterfall. Jacob turned to the rest. "Dismissed."

Saren walked past him, and smiled. "During the battle, that was an unorthodox tactic, Lieutenant. I will be sure to mention it in my report to the Council."

"You do that, Saren."

The turian walked past him, followed by Nihlus and the crews. Jacob was last inside, staring at the waterfall. As the sun began to set, the _Attican Sun_ rose from the ground and made its ungainly way back into space, towards the cluster's mass relay.

**The story's going to wind down from here. I'm already writing a sequel to this, so you'll be seeing more of Jacob at some point.**


	13. The Citadel Again

A few days later Saren, Nihlus, and Jacob stood in the Council Chambers. Standing line abreast on the Petitioner's Stage, the three waited for the Council to appear as other Citadel Tower visitors watched them from the balconies. The Council eventually appeared, each taking their places on the opposite side of the room in front of the enormous stained glass window that opened to the glory of the Serpent Nebula.

The asari Councilor spoke. "Welcome back, you three. We have received word from the Executor of the _Pride of the Hierarchy_ that the defense of the planet was a success?"

"It was indeed, Councilor," Nihlus replied.

"But that does not change the statistics of the after-action report we received," the turian Councilor said. "A sizable portion of the fleet we sent to aid you was destroyed in the battle."

"We were outnumbered, Councilor," Jacob said.

"And we also understand," the salarian said, "that several geth ships managed to escape?"

"They showed no interest in attacking again, Councilor." Saren said. "The geth may be synthetic, but they're not stupid. They knew that they couldn't win if they came back for a round two."

The asari looked at the two turians and human on the Petitioner's Stage. "The geth's future goals are not the purpose of this meeting," she said. "We are here to discuss the application of the mission and the evaluation of the liaison program."

She looked at Nihlus. "Nihlus, how do you believe Lieutenant Daniels performed?"

"He showed good leadership skills, a caring for those under his command, and inspired such loyalty that one of his squad was ready to take a bullet for him. He also showed his skills at investigation during the mission. It was mostly due to his work that we managed to get through it at all."

The salarian nodded. "A good review. Do you have anything else to add, Nihlus?"

"No, Councilor."

The turian looked at Saren. "Saren, what is your evaluation?"

Saren looked at Jacob for a moment before answering. "I believe that while Lieutenant Daniels did some very astounding things, the failures outweighed the achievements."

"What?" Jacob growled, turning to him. He stopped himself as Nihlus placed a hand on his shoulder.

Saren continued as if he hadn't heard Jacob speak. "Lieutenant Daniels was inexperienced in field work, and lost all but one of those under his command. All of them turians."

"What proof do you have that he was inexperienced, Saren?" asked the salarian.

"He told me himself, Councilor."

"Anything else, Saren?" the turian asked.

"Yes, Councilor. Lieutenant Daniels also displayed disregard for direct orders. In the hours before the battle I ordered him not to issue any commands during it. Not only did he violate that order, he took over the controls of the ship and succeeded in ramming the _Attican Sun_ into the geth command vessel."

The asari held up a hand to forestall Saren's next words, then turned to Jacob. "Lieutenant, do you have a response to these claims?"

Jacob bit his lip and nodded. "Yes, Councilor. While I do not deny Saren's claims at my inexperience in field operations and the deaths of three out of the four turians I had in my squad, I was able to ensure that we won by crashing the _Sun_ into the geth command ship. It was going for the _Pride_, which was already engaged with another ship. Crashing our vessel into it seemed to be the only way to distract it. We not only did that, we managed to destroy it and got as many out as we could."

"And why did you disobey Saren's orders?"

"I wanted to get a better view of the battle, Councilor."

"That is not a satisfactory excuse, Lieutenant!" the turian said. "If you cannot obey the orders of your superiors, you have no place in the armed forces."

Nihlus knocked his knuckles on the railing of the Petitioner's Stage in order to garner attention. When the eyes of the Council were on him, he spoke. "Councilors, despite the claims that Saren has leveled against Lieutenant Daniels, I have seen him fight. He is skilled, and I wish to nominate him for Spectre candidacy."

The Council members conferred for a moment before turning back to them. The asari looked at Nihlus. "We will contact discuss this and further review the Lieutenant's service record before deciding, Nihlus. Lieutenant Daniels, if you would go outside, please?"

Jacob bowed, turned, and walked off of the stage. Going down the flights of stairs, he went to the elevator. Leaning against the wall and watching the skyscrapers of the Wards grow taller as the elevator moved into the Presidium, he wondered vaguely if he would be accepted as a Spectre. As the doors opened and Jacob stepped out into the quiet, undisturbed park, he thought to himself as he walked to the embassies. More specifically, the embassy bar.

Nihlus trusted him and thought he had enough experience to become a Spectre. There'd never been a human one. Saren on the other hand, might jeopardize his chances. Jacob bit his lip and shook his head before coming to the door of the embassy bar. He ordered a drink, got it, then went over to a table on the balcony that overlooked the Presidium. Sipping the drink, he closed his eyes and tried to take in the soft sounds of the lake splashing and the simulated wind.

A scuffing noise made him open his eyes. Garrus stood there. Laying his pistol down on the table, the turian C-Sec agent sat down across from him. Taking in the drink, he looked at the Citadel Tower over Jacob's shoulder. "Don't you have a meeting to get to?"

"I was already there. They had me leave while they discussed my service record, see if I did well."

Garrus looked around at the Presidium. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Jacob nodded. "It's very nice. Do you come here often?"

"Not really, but after Executor Pallin heard about the injury I'd gotten over the course of the mission he pulled me off duty for a while, until he's sure I'm feeling better."

Jacob took another sip of his drink. "So you've been sitting here in the Presidium all day?"

Garrus shrugged. "Pretty much."

Jacob gulped down the rest of his drink and rose. "Come on. Walk with me."

Garrus got up, took his gun, and they walked out of the tavern together, down to a bench in front of the krogan statue that commemorated the krogan's role in the Rachni Wars. Jacob looked at the rough, craggy face of the krogan before looking at Garrus. "What do you think the geth will do now?"

Garrus shrugged. "I don't know. If they attacked a planet, it'll be all over the news unless the Council shuts it down. And they probably have. The terrorist group made a convenient front."

Jacob nodded. A 200 year-old horror resurfacing around the galaxy would cause a mass panic. He looked up as a shadow fell across them. Nihlus looked at Garrus. "On your way, Agent Vakarian."

Garrus rose, nodded to Jacob, then walked off. Nihlus beckoned to Jacob. "Walk with me, Lieutenant."

As they moved towards the bridge, Nihlus took a deep breath and began. "The Council reviewed your service record and our reports of your performance during the mission."

"What did they decide?"

Nihlus sighed. "They decided to reject your candidacy."

"Why?"

"Think of it. You are incorrigibly reckless with Citadel property. The _Sun_ will have to spend months in drydock to replace all of the parts she lost. Your plan also resulted in the deaths of most of the ship's remaining marines. Not to mention losing three-fourths of your squad and your inexperience…needless to say, you wouldn't make a good Spectre."

"Let me guess what another one of those reasons is. One that they didn't tell you," Jacob said. "It's because I'm human, right?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"Don't feed me bull crap, Nihlus. Every politician, human or alien, has their racial biases. For instance, most of Citadel space. You turians are the worst with it. I'm not saying you are, but you'd be surprised at how many political decisions have been influenced just by racism."

"The Council acts in the way that seems best for all of Citadel space."

Jacob shrugged. "I got a communiqué from Captain Roberts. The _Waterloo_ is in dock, waiting for me. I need to go."

Nihlus put a hand on Jacob's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Jacob. I know that it doesn't seem fair after all you went through."

Jacob brushed the hand off. "I know, Nihlus. You don't need to apologize. But tell the Council that they should mark my words; someday soon you will call on humanity to have to help you. And it will be up to one human to decide whether we do or not."

Without another word, he began to walk in the direction of the docking bay. Nihlus stood there, alone, watching him go.

**It's just the epilogue after this, and that's a short part. Hope you guys liked it! R and R!**


	14. Epilogue

The sun shone down on the plains and arcologies of Eden Prime. As the _Waterloo_'s crew began to drop off cargo and crew members, Jacob walked out into the busy spaceport, reading the slip of paper that he had been given before he got off the ship.

It was a communiqué from the Alliance naval office. This was the document that told him whether his resignation had been approved or told him his next duty station. It was the former. Jacob sighed in relief and began to walk over towards the rental lot of the spaceport. Getting on a shuttle he leaned back in his seat as it swept over Eden Prime's surface. People and drones worked in the fields. Close to the spaceport there was some sort of facility being set up. He could see digging equipment and Alliance marines.

The shuttle docked in the hangar of one arcology. As Jacob, along with the other passengers filed down the ramp, he realized he barely remembered his home. He hadn't been there in almost five months.

Swiping his ID card through the slot on the door, the thing chimed and opened.

His military paycheck, when put in an account with as much interest as he'd done, could buy a lot of things. In this case, it got him a fairly large apartment. Most of it was taken up by a spacious living room, and a large bedroom next to it. The kitchen was inside the living room, and everything had the dust of several months of neglect. The carpet and most of the furniture of both rooms was a deep blue. Jacob sighed and set his duffel bag down on the floor. He went into his room and flopped down on the bed as the sun began to set outside.

It was good to be home.

__________

Saren walked into the small room that functioned as his quarters while he was aboard _Sovereign_. As he sat down in the large, circular chair in the center of the room, he put one hand over his eyes.

A voice, filled with the malice of ages, spoke to him.

"Were you successful?"

Saren raised his hand slightly. "Yes. The terrorist group is taking all blame. The Council has chosen to keep the geth incursion under wraps and has forced the news agencies on Afranil to remain quiet about anything except the investigation. They do not suspect us."

A warm wave passed through the chair. The Reaper was pleased. "The time is nearly at hand. And when it is done, you, my faithful right hand, shall be held above all others."

Saren smiled and relaxed as the sinister whispers from deep within _Sovereign_ began to work their way into the depths of his mind.

_Sovereign_ began to move into the Perseus Veil, the nebulous barrier wrapping around its huge form before finally passing out of sight.

**Another story done. Hope you all liked it! R and R!**


End file.
